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Selected Readings from The Portable Dorothy Parker Audiobook
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Publisher Description
When it comes to expressing the pleasure and pain of being just a touch too smart to be happy, Dorothy Parker is still the champion, after all these years. Along with Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, and the rest of the Algonquin Round Table, she dominated American popular literature in the 1920s and 1930s.
These unabridged selections of more than thirty short stories and poems is essential for any Parker fan and an excellent way for new readers to make the acquaintance of one of the twentieth century's most quotable authors, whose memorable lines include: "She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B," "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force," and "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses." Parker's ability to lay bare the follies, myths, and hypocrisies of her characters in such a wickedly funny—sometimes sad—manner is unmatched, and her attention to language, quirks, and the other little details of life make her stories come vividly to life.
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“If ever a book cried out for audio, this is it. Dorothy Parker, one of the wittiest women of the twentieth century, decimated the hypocrisies of her time with the razor-sharp, prolific (if not always pithy) selections of verse, short stories, criticism, song lyrics, and screenplays…The collection, graced by Raver’s luminous reading, makes for wonderful listening.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“Mrs. Parker has an eye for people, an ear for language, and a feeling for the little things of life that are so immensely a part of the process of living.”
— Ogden Nash, poet and New York Times bestselling author -
“Dorothy Parker doesn’t just reveal the hypocrisies, vanities, myths, and foibles of her characters, she skewers them—in a style that is merciless, wickedly funny, and often sad.”
— 500 Great Books by Women -
“Raver performs each [selection] brilliantly with a new voice and a fresh perspective.”
— Kliatt
Awards
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A Audie Award FinalistAudie Award Finalist
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A Shelf Awareness Best Book for Fall of Bestselling Audiobooks
Selected Readings from The Portable Dorothy Parker Listener Reviews
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" Read four short stories but I guess I am not a short stories person. "
— Bcoghill, 2/7/2011
About Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) is a literary legend famed for her poetry, short stories, criticism, screenplays, and dramas. She was a founding writer of the New Yorker and also wrote for Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Esquire. A key member of the New York literary circle, the Algonquin Round Table, she was widely known as the wittiest woman in America. Not so well known are her political beliefs: she helped unionize Hollywood screenwriters, joined the Communist Party, and worked on behalf of various left-wing causes. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted in Hollywood. Her estate was bequeathed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She is buried in Baltimore, at the headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which became her literary executor following Dr. King’s assassination. Today, four decades after her death, Dorothy Parker remains one of the most quoted writers in the world.
About Lorna Raver
Lorna Raver, named one of AudioFile magazine’s Best Voices of the Year, has received numerous Audie Award nominations and many AudioFile Earphones Awards. She has appeared on stage in New York, Los Angeles, and regional theaters around the country. Among her many television credits are NYPD Blue, Judging Amy, Boston Legal, ER, and Star Trek. She starred in director Sam Raimi’s film Drag Me to Hell.